Many of us have heard the old adage that 10% of any given population is gay (meaning that, out of my high school graduating class of 150, there are 15 other queers). This percentage is supposedly based on the 1948 and 1953 studies published by Alfred Kinsey and I've been wondering for a while if there is any truth in that figure. Or, does it really matter?  Much to my surprise, I found that there is some empirical evidence to support it, sort of.  Conclude for yourself the answer. Here is some of what I found:

Results from Alfred Kinsey's 1948 and 1953 research can be found online at the Kinsey Institute http://www.indiana.edu/~kinsey/index.aspl "Kinsey said in both the Female and Male volumes that it was impossible to determine the number of persons who are "homosexual" or "heterosexual". It was only possible to determine behavior at any given time."

Male Homosexuality - 10% of males in the sample were predominantly homosexual between the ages of 16 and 55; 8% of males were exclusively homosexual for at least three years between the ages of 16 and 55 (p. 651, Male); 4% of white males had been exclusively homosexual after the onset of adolescence up to the time of their interviews (p. 651, Male)  

Female Homosexuality - 2 to 6% of females, aged 20-35, were more or less exclusively homosexual in experience/response, (p. 488, Female); 1 to 3% of unmarried females aged 20-35 were exclusively homosexual in experience/response, (Table 142, p. 499, and p. 474, Female)  

Male Bisexuality - 46% of the male population had engaged in both heterosexual and homosexual activities, or "reacted to" persons of both sexes, in the course of their adult lives (p. 656, Male). 11.6% of white males (ages 20-35) were given a rating of 3 (about equal heterosexual and homosexual experience/response) on the 7-point Kinsey

Heterosexual - Homosexual Rating Scale for this period of their lives (Table 147, p. 651, Male) Female Bisexuality - 7% of single females (ages 20-35) and 4% of previously married females (ages 20-35) were given a rating of 3 (about equal heterosexual and homosexual experience/response) on the 7-point Kinsey Heterosexual-Homosexual Rating Scale for this period of their lives (Table 142, p. 499, Female) Therese Eyermann and Ronni Sanlo conducted a study using data from the UCLA residence hall quality of life survey. The question posed on the survey asked whom people are sexually attracted to - men, women or both. Over a period of several years, the responses were consistently right around 10% (with that question being answered no less than any other survey). More information on this study can be found in: Sanlo, R. L., Rankin, S. & Schoenberg, R. (2002). Our Place on Campus: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Services and Programs in Higher Education. Greenwood Publishing Group. "On the 2000 United States Census, 594,391 households self-identified as same-sex unmarried partners, representing 1.2 million gay and lesbian [or bisexual] adults." While this is only a small minority of the GLBT population, it is a significant number. From Bradford, J., Barrett, K., & Honnold, J.A. (2002). The 2000 Census and Same-Sex Households: A User's Guide. New York: The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute, the Survey and Evaluation Research Laboratory and the Fenway Institute. p. 1. www.ngltf.org/pi/census.asp The number of queer adolescents in the U.S. has been estimated using a number of population-based studies. These studies give us information on self-identified GLB youth and youth who report being unsure of their sexual orientation or youth who report same-sex and both-sex sexual attraction/behavior. Here are some statistics from those studies:  

6.2% - The 1987 Minnesota Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) reported that 1.1% of youth surveyed described themselves as bisexual or homosexual and that 5.1% reported same-sex attraction or anticipated future same-sex sexual experience.  

5% - The 1991 National American Indian Adolescent Health Survey found 1.6% of respondents self-identified as gay or bisexual and

4.4% - reported same-sex attraction or anticipated future same-sex experience.  

4.5% - The 1995 Seattle, Washington YRBS reported 4.5% identified as lesbian, gay, or bisexual and another 4% reported being "not sure" of their sexual orientation.  

4% - The 1997 Massachusetts YRBS reported over 4% of respondents either self-identified as gay or bisexual or reported same-sex experience. The 1997 Vermont YRBS reported 5.4% of young men and 3.4% of young women reported same-sex activity.  

Reis & Saewyc (1999) estimate that approximately 1 million of the nations 45 million school aged children are gay, lesbian or bisexual (based on identity or attraction).  

More information can be found in: Reis, B. and Saewyc, E. (1999). Eighty-Three Thousand Youth: Selected Findings of Eight Population-Based Studies as They Pertain to Anti-Gay Harassment and the Safety and Well-Being of Sexual Minority Students. Seattle: Safe Schools Coalition of Washington. p. 11-12. Another recent population-based study, the National Longitudinal Adolescent Health Study, gives us some numbers as well. The data from the first wave of this study was analyzed by Stephen Russell, et al and they found that: "Same-sex relationships were reported by 1.1% of boys and 2.0% of girls, compared with reports of romantic attractions by 7.3% of boys and 5% of girls (0.5% of boys and girls reported both same-sex romantic attraction and relationship)." The sample used in this analysis consisted of 6254 adolescent girls and 5686 adolescent boys. For more information, please refer to the following article: Russell, S. T. & Joyner, K. (2001). "Adolescent Sexual Orientation and Suicide Risk: Evidence from a National Study." American Journal of Public Health, 91(8). The Intersex Society of North America provides some estimates regarding the frequency of intersexuality based on the work of Dr. Anne Fausto-Sterling at http://www.isna.org/faq/frequency.aspl

Total number of people whose bodies differ from standard male or female - 1 in 100 births Total number of people receiving surgery to "normalize" genital appearance - 1 in 1000 births And here is another fun fact: According to a September 2002 Gallup poll, the American public thinks that 21.4% of all men are gay and 22% of all women are lesbians. The entire Gallup poll is available at: http://www.gallup.com/poll/analysis/ia020911vii.asp